Crimes need not to be just constitutional. There are a few cultural crimes too. Beef eating too is considered a cultural crime in India. Because, the cow is considered sacred by the Hindu community. Holy Meat, produced by Pa Ranjith’s Neelam Social, challenges the prejudices and castigation being faced by the beef eaters in a very light-hearted and gentle humor.
The unnamed school boy (played by Aadhavan) faces the backlash while having beef biryani for lunch. Krishna (Sathvick), his classmate, calls him out for eating beef. Not-so-ironically, eating chicken is acceptable, but not the beef. His friends made him feel like he is “eating dirt”. He urges his father (played by KPY Prakash) to give chicken. The child likes to eat beef, but not publicly. So, his father takes his child to a small shop to buy him beef tawa curry. There you see Krishna– the same Krishna who condemned the boy– taking the parcel of beef.
The father confronts Krishna to understand why he feels the way he feels towards the beef. Krishna responds saying, “eating beef is a sin” since the cow is sacred, as said to him by his parents and grandparents. The rationale used by the father to convince Krishna that consuming beef is not a sin by referring to prominent people like Nobel Laureates, Athletes etc also eat beef is not very convincing. If mimicking the prominent people is what it takes to consume beef, doesn’t it also justify the not consuming beef by mimicking (therefore believing) what Krishna’s parents and grandparents were propagating against beef eating? The core of eating and not eating any food is a cultural matter, the culture of upbringing and the culture of exposure to other cultures. This argument should’ve been a bit more deeper in its understanding.
Nonetheless, the message is what matters at the end. And, the value promoted through the film is not whether to eat beef or not, but to stop the unwarranted judgements. Writer and director Ajay Acchu also comments on the prejudice of body odour. The stinking sweat after a sport is not because of the food we consume, says the father. When the father asks the child, why does he eat the God (i.e., beef) despite his family being against it, he responds, “Because, it’s good” with an innocent excitement. Then, the three of them eat the beef together, a democratic statement promoting the fraternity that is needed in a polarising society that we unfortunately have to live in.
Holy Meat is now available to stream on Youtube for Free.
